More local veterans reporting possible poisoning from Gagetown training

Monday

Feb 22, 2010 at 12:01 AMFeb 22, 2010 at 9:18 PM

Some sick Massachusetts veterans are wondering if their medical conditions are linked to time spent at a training camp in New Brunswick, after reading a Daily News report last week about toxic defoliants used at the Canadian base.

Ashley Studley

Some sick Massachusetts veterans are wondering if their medical conditions are linked to time spent at a training camp in New Brunswick, after reading a Daily News report last week about toxic defoliants used at the Canadian base.

Documents show millions of liters of the chemical defoliants Agent Orange, Purple or White were sprayed over thousands of acres of Canadian Forces Base Gagetown from 1956 to 1984, potentially exposing the Canadian, American and British soldiers who trained there.

:It's not surprising,'' said George Cameron, department service officer for the Massachusetts American Legion. "A lot of stuff happens in the military that people don't know about - not even soldiers.''

Cameron said in the past week, after the Feb. 14 Daily News report about defoliants used at the Canadian base where Americans trained, he has received about 15 phone calls from Massachusetts National Guard and Army Reserve veterans who served in Gagetown in the 1980s. He said some were sick and others voiced concern they may have been exposed to the herbicides.

The toxin became widely known after its use to defoliate jungles in Vietnam left many American soldiers and Vietnamese soldiers and civilians sick from exposure.

According to the Canadian Department of National Defence, in cooperation with the United States, the chemicals were sprayed for three days in 1966 and four days in 1967 to test "their effectiveness.''

However, a DND document obtained in 2005 through the Freedom to Information Act shows 3.3 million liters of the chemicals was sprayed over 181,000 acres of the base from 1956 to 1984.

"If they have a disability, I would say file a claim with the (Department of Veterans Affairs) immediately,'' Cameron said. "If they don't have a currently diagnosed condition and they're worried about exposure, they should keep track of it with their doctor.''

According to the VA, scientists from the U.S. Army's Ft. Detrick Plant Science Lab in Maryland went to Gagetown to test various herbicides from only June 20-24, 1967, and only veterans on the base at that time may qualify for service-connected disability benefits.

However, a spokesman from the VA's regional office for veterans benefits in Boston suggests veterans who are sick and served in Gagetown at a later date file a claim if they suspect they were exposed to Agent Orange.

The Canadian law firm Merchant Law Group LLP is representing about 4,000 Canadian veterans, widows and civilians in a class action lawsuit seeking compensation from the Canadian government for health problems caused by the chemicals.

"The entire size of the class could be in the range of 440,000 - a figure derived from governmental records of who was there from 1956 to present,'' said Casey Churko, a law associate working on the case.

Churko said the firm is representing anyone who trained in Gagetown from 1956 to the present day "because of the residual effects of chemicals in the soil.''

Dr. Wayne Dwernychuk, a Canadian biologist with the Hatfield Consultants - a Canadian firm that monitors and mitigates environmental conditions around the world, has consulted Merchant Law and said dioxins - the harmful byproduct of the herbicides Á can last a lifetime.

"It can remain in the soil for over 100 years, it's a very persistent dioxin,'' Dwernychuk said. "It will break down chemically through (ultraviolet) light. However, it's very slow. If dioxins are buried in the soil, they can remain in the soil for 100 years - no problem.''

He said soldiers' exposure may vary.

"You've got to think of the weather conditions. If it's raining a lot, there's going to be erosion and some chemical decomposition,'' he said. "If dioxins are in the ground, and there are a lot of (soldiers) digging foxholes, (dioxins can enter the body) through ingestion, inhalation, and (skin) absorption.''

Since 1994, Dwernychuk and the firm, along with the United States Agency for International Development and the Ford Foundation, have been working to clean up dioxin from a military air base in Da Nang, Vietnam.

From his research, he has no doubt soldiers were exposed to the dioxins in Gagetown.

"There certainly was exposure of the troops, whether they be Canadian or American, to Agent Orange residue through dioxin in the soil,'' Dwernychuk said.

Today, American vets are left wondering why they never knew about this situation.

"Knowing the government the way I do, and knowing the military, they don't tell you everything all the time,'' said veteran Ralph Berardi, a Milford native. ``It's unfortunate, but that's life.''

Berardi, 57, spent 27 years in the military, and went to Gagetown for a pre-camp conference in 1987 with the 505th ASA Company - a unit that supported the 26th Yankee Division of the National Guard.

"We spent three days driving up in the boonies, looking for possible places to set up,'' Berardi said. "What amazes me, is the camp is out in the middle of nowhere. It's heavily wooded, yet wide stretches were totally barren. I thought it was totally strange.''
In 2001, he developed a stage 4 cancerous tumor in his bladder, which was surgically removed and is now in remission.

In 2003, he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, a medical condition the VA lists as being related to Agent Orange exposure.

In 2004, he had another cancerous tumor in a sweat gland of his face removed. Three months ago, the cancer came back.

"I have no idea if (my conditions) are related'' to Gagetown, he said. "All I know is I come from a large family, and nobody else in the family has any cancer except for me.''

Berardi, who currently lives in Clinton and works for Intel Corp. in Hudson, can't understand why he and other soldiers were never made aware of the potentially hazardous training ground.

"Why didn't they tell us, as members of the American Army, that something hazardous was there? If they said that, of course we would've been a little more careful,'' he said. "I've been to other pre-camp conferences ... any time we go anywhere, they'd always give us an extensive briefing of what's in the area, where to go, and what to do. If there was anything that was hazardous or off limits, they would tell you. There was no mention in 1987 if there was any kind of hazardous areas in Gagetown at all.''

Guardsman and reservist John Delcore, 54, of Ayer, spent months in Gagetown between 1984 and 1991 and thinks soldiers would have been warned had officials known about the spraying.

"Nothing was known. The leadership certainly would have informed us if they knew,'' Delcore said. "Especially with it being a big part of Vietnam. ... I just don't think it was known.

Delcore is being treated for pituitary and thyroid tumors.

"(Doctors) did ask me (if I had exposure to Agent Orange), but you had to have known if you had exposure,'' he said. "I didn't go to Vietnam, so I said no.''

Jeff Keane, public affairs officer for Ft. Devens in Ayer, also told doctors he hadn't been exposed to Agent Orange when he was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia in 2002.

Keane trained in Gagetown for two weeks with the 26th Infantry Division of the Mass. National Guard in 1988. In 1990, he spent another two weeks with the 187th Infantry Brigade of the Reserves.

"(Doctors) had no idea where it came from,'' Keane said. ``They didn't even look at Agent Orange because I've never been to Vietnam.''

The 67-year-old Braintree resident said he doesn't have a family history of hairy cell leukemia - a condition recently recognized by the VA as being related to Agent Orange.

"I've never worked with chemicals, or anything that would attribute to this kind of stuff,'' he said.

Cameron, the service officer for the American Legion, is advising vets who do not have a diagnosed condition to join another class action suit out of Canada being represented by various law firms, by visiting agentorangecanadaclassaction.com.

"If you don't have a currently diagnosed condition, you're not allowed to claim a herbicide condition with the VA,'' he said. "It leaves (vets) in limbo, worrying if they're going to contract anything in the coming years.''

Cameron advises any Massachusetts veteran who trained in Gagetown to call the American Legion headquarters at 617-303-5694.

"If this was a major contamination, there are probably going to be a lot more infections or diseases coming from this,'' he said.

Ashley Studley can be reached at 508-634-7556 or astudley@cnc.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Lifestyle

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Helena-West Helena World - Helena, AR ~ 417 York, Helena, AR 72342 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service